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If you think robots are mainly the stuff of space movies, think again. Right
now, all over the world, robots are on the move. Theyre painting cars at Ford
plants, assembling Milano cookies for Pepperidge Farms, walking into live
volcanoes, driving trains in Paris, and defusing bombs in Northern Ireland. As
they grow tougher, nimbler, and smarter, todays robots are doing more and
more things we cant or dont want todo.
Robots have been with us for less than 50 years, but the idea of inanimate
creations to do our bidding is much, much older. The ancient Greek poet
Homer described maidens of gold, metallic helpers for the Hephaistos, the
Greek god of the forge. The golems of medieval Jewish legend were robot-like
servants made of clay, brought to life by a spoken charm. Leonardo da Vinci
drew plans for a mechanical man in 1495.
But real robots wouldnt become possible until the 1950s and 60s, with the
invention of transistors and integrated circuits. Compact, reliable electronics
and a growing computer industry added brains to the brawn of already existing
machines. In 1959, researchers demonstrated the possibility of robotic
manufacturing when they unveiled a computer-controlled milling machine. Its
first product: ashtrays.
Whats a Robot?
Theres no precise definition, but by general agreement a robot is a
programmable machine that imitates the actions or appearance of an
intelligent creatureusually a human. To qualify as a robot, a machine has to
be able to do two things: 1) get information from its surroundings, and 2) do
something physicalsuch as move or manipulate objects.
The word robot comes from the Czech wordrobota,meaning drudgery or slavelike labor. It was first used to describe fabricated workers in a fictional 1920s
play by Czech author Karel Capek calledRossums Universal Robots. In the story,
a scientist invents robots to help people by performing simple, repetitive tasks.
However, once the robots are used to fight wars, they turn on their human
owners and take over the world.
TIPS: Read the questions first. When reading the text underline the unknowned words.
VOCABULARY
Match the words in the left with their equivalent on the right:
a
on the move
putting together
assembling
maidens
moving
metalsmiths
designed
drew plans
reliable
increasing
growing
milling machine